Biography:
Biography You will see from your readings that Harriet Martineau was a trail blazer for women in academia Her interest of study was in the area of politics, the economy and social class In addition to her contributions in those areas, she was influential in the development of how sociologists ought to observe behavior in socieites .
Methodology:
Methodology Martineau felt that people of her day under-appreciated the importance of following a systematic method when it came to understanding human behavior and offered the following principles to follow: Do not rush to conclusions – hasty decisions force one’s observations to fit predetermined opinions Do not generalize from limited observations Recognize that observations are, at best, approximations of the truth
Methodology:
Methodology Martineau advocated that observers focus upon concrete events, take their time to interpret the meaning of what they see, and be cautious about generalizing. The overall research strategy she advocated was sophisticated for her time, and today would be described as “multi-method” because of its reliance upon several approaches.
Methodology:
Methodology She advocated that a research should utilize: Direct observation In-depth interviews Statistical records #1 and #2 are considered to be qualitative methods (and therefore inductive in their approach), while #3 would be considered quantitative (and therefore deductive in their approach)
Methodology:
Methodology What is important for you to take away from this is that you will gain knowledge from your Social Research Methods class with regard to quantitative research methods (deductive approach). Your final assignment in this course will be that of an ethnography which is qualitative (inductive approach) [You will not be doing interviews – only observations – lecture on ethnography]